The 80s Horror Thriller That Casts Sitcom Icon As Wicked Witch

Bay Coven follows a newlywed couple that doesn’t want to set down roots in the busy city. Jerry and Linda Lebon (Tim Matheson and Pamela Sue Martin) decided to explore more remote locations, and wind up finding the deal of a lifetime on Devon Island. But if you’re familiar with horror film tropes, you already know that a good deal in real estate will quickly translate to bad news.

At first, Jerry and Linda feel like they’ll quickly settle into their new lives. The villagers are a bit quirky but are mostly friendly folks. Linda’s only source of irritation is the elderly woman from whom she and Jerry purchased the house. Beatrice (Barbara Billingsly) insists on living in the guest house beyond her recently sold home and always pops in on Linda.

The village seems to have gone about its business without many of the modern creature comforts of Jerry and Linda’s lives in the city. But the island’s charm is growing on them. Linda begins to have some suspicions about the previous occupant of their home, however.

Bay Coven sees Linda experience strange phenomena in their new home, notably the spectral presence of an elderly man who seems to be giving her a dire warning. Linda calls upon a friend from the mainland to help, only to be grief-stricken by his unexpected death. Linda begins snooping around more and discovers a cemetery with a dark secret and a village full of people who have a wicked motive for setting up the sale of the home she and Jerry just moved into.

Linda begins to unravel a plot in Bay Coven that involves a centuries-old coven of witches that seems to involve the entire island. Beatrice appears to be the center of the evil that Linda uncovers, a plot for a human sacrifice that is a ritual to resurrect the coven’s fallen leader.

Bay Coven is from an era where made-for-TV horror was a dime a dozen, and this one in particular isn’t worth much in retrospect. The casting of Billingsly as a member of an evil witch’s coven is one of its only redeeming features, as her portrayal of Beatrice is rather chilling. The plotline is tired and very predictable, and reeks of themes from Rosemary’s Baby, though done in a manner that is as lacking in suspense as it is cheap.

The film wasn’t exactly a career booster for Pamela Sue Martin. While Matheson and co-stars Woody Harrelson kept busy with TV and film in the decades after Bay Coven, Martin was relegated to walk-on roles and bit parts. You can spot her in episodes of Nancy Drew and That ’70s Show.

REVIEW SCORE

Bay Coven has been available off and on via streaming services but is not currently available for viewing. Your best shot at getting a look at this 1.5/5.0-star film is a grainy version that someone has uploaded on YouTube. There are sometimes copies of the DVD release online, but its scarcity can make the price fluctuate to the point that it is not worth the money.